Projects

Heterogeneous catalysts design for biorefining and energy conversion processes

Lead Institution

University of South Carolina

Principal Investigator

Andreas Heyden

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The overall goal of this project is to develop, implement, and apply a set of computational, multiscale techniques for heterogeneous catalysts design with special emphasis on the EMSL theme, &quot…

What, exactly, inhibits decomposition at low temperature?

Lead Institution

University of Toledo

Principal Investigator

Michael Weintraub

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Arctic soils contain large carbon (C) stores, and the balance of C fluxes is likely to shift because Arctic temperatures are rising at twice the global rate. However, predicting soil responses is…

Shales across scales: Identifying conserved biogeochemistry and microbial metabolism across geographically distinct deep subsurface ecosystems

Lead Institution

Colorado State University

Principal Investigator

Michael Wilkins

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The hydraulic fracturing of hydrocarbon bearing shales to yield oil and gas is now a critical part of the US energy portfolio. Microorganisms present in injected fluids colonize these environments,…

Integrated Mutli-omics Analyses for the Prediction of Metabolic Flux in Lignin Conversion

Lead Institution

Washington University in St. Louis

Principal Investigator

Marcus Foston

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The last decade has witnessed the tremendous power of systems biology and multi-omics tools to characterize and understand complex biological systems, computational tools to integrate and leverage…

Nano- to microscale characterization of metabolic cooperation facilitated by physical associations between phototrophic microalgae and heterotrophic bacterial symbionts

Lead Institution

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Ty Samo

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Attachment between phototrophic microalgae and heterotrophic bacteria is an integral yet understudied facet of microbial ecology. Such inter-kingdom cooperative partnerships have important…

Chemical Imaging of Airborne Soil Organic Particles from Land-atmosphere Interactions

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Principal Investigator

Alexander Laskin

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Recent discovery of solid (glassy) atmospheric soil organic particles (ASOP), emitted through atmosphere-land-surface interactions in the area of Southern Great Plains (SGP) suggests that ASOP may…

Methanogenesis in wetland soils: It may not always be as deep as we all thought

Lead Institution

Colorado State University

Principal Investigator

Kelly Wrighton

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This proposal focuses on understanding the constraints on methane metabolism in freshwater temperate wetland soils, as these systems currently represent the largest source of natural methane…

Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry, NMR and Computation to Elucidate Biomolecular Structural Features that Enable Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysis in Fuel Cells

Lead Institution

University of Texas at Austin

Principal Investigator

Yi Lu

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This proposal addresses a major under-explored area of research in our understanding of foundational principles for predictive biology central to energy production, i.e., the role of post…

Hydrologic imprinting across terrestrial-aquatic gradients: unraveling the spectrum of ecosystem responses to freshwater limitation and salt exposure

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Nicholas Ward

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The availability of freshwater exerts a direct influence on the growth and health of plants both in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (e.g., wetlands). Upland soils can experience accumulation of…

Controlling ion transport and topotactic phase transition processes in oxide thin films

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Yingge Du

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The overarching goal of this proposal is to understand, predict, and ultimately control ion transport and topotactic phase transition (TPT) processes occurring in structurally ordered transition…

The mechanism of pyrite formation: Implications for metal mobility during iron-sulfide transformations

Lead Institution

University of California, Riverside

Principal Investigator

Timothy Lyons

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Sulfidic sediments are a key sink for many potentially toxic trace elements in marine settings, with much of these elements ultimately being concentrated into the mineral pyrite. Pyrite can be an…

Geochemical controls on soil resiliency to carbon loss following permafrost thaw in Alaskan soils

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Rebecca Lybrand

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Global air temperature rise exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions endangers Arctic carbon previously protected by permafrost. The resiliency of soil landscapes to carbon loss will be determined by…

The Root of the Matter: Soil Carbon Mobilization in the Rhizosphere

Lead Institution

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Principal Investigator

Marco Keiluweit

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The exploratory work we propose aims to improve mechanistic understanding of links among rhizodeposition of organic compounds by plant roots, microbial growth and activity, and the strength of…

Microbe-Mineral Interactions for Rare Earth Recovery

Lead Institution

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Yongqin Jiao

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lanthanides are composed of 15 metallic chemical elements (La-Lu). Combined with Sc and Y, they are often collectively known as the rare earth elements (REEs). Although lanthanides are ubiquitous in…

Assessing the environmental activity of ultra-small cells with deuterium oxide labeling and proteomics

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Stephen Giovannoni

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Reports of ultra-small cell and streamlined genomes have flooded into the field of microbiology, providing support for the idea that the prevalence of streamlined bacteria in nature has been…

Spatiotemporal Controls on Organic Matter Availability and Decomposition Rates across Floodplain Sediments

Lead Institution

Stanford University

Principal Investigator

Scott Fendorf

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Although depositional environments such as floodplains are key regulators of ecosystem carbon storage and downstream metal loadings, they are not very well represented in earth system models…

Unraveling the catabolism of lignin-derived compounds in white-rot fungi (part II)

Lead Institution

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Davinia Salvachua Rodriguez

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

White rot fungi (WRF) are the most efficient organisms for the depolymerization and mineralization of lignin to CO2 and H2O in Nature and thus, WRF play a pivotal role in carbon cycling. Lignin…

Integrating thermodynamic and microbial mechanisms to understand coupled controls of carbon and nitrogen on hyporheic zone metabolism

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James Stegen

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Terrestrial-aquatic interfaces are widely recognized as active zones of organic matter metabolism, and hyporheic zones in particular are critical in determining the fate of organic matter globally…

Molecular characterization of dissolved organic matter components facilitating the transport and transformation of mercury

Lead Institution

Syracuse University

Principal Investigator

Charles Driscoll

Project type

Exploratory Research

Browning of surface water has been observed across the northeastern United States and northern Europe. This trend has generally been attributed to increases in dissolved organic matter following the…

Probing Microbial Interactions and Coordinated Trophic Responses in Biological Soil Crusts

Lead Institution

University of Mississippi

Principal Investigator

Erik Hom

Project type

FICUS Research

Arid and semiarid lands comprise about 40% of the global land surface, and yet they are among the least understood ecosystems. Cryptogamic or biological soil crusts (BSC) are the dominant ground…